By BRUCE DENNILL
Janice Honeyman’s Beauty And The Beast / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein
With any beloved tradition – and Joburg Theatre’s annual pantomime is very much that; always one of the best-selling tickets of the South African theatre calendar – there can be a tendency to accept whatever is on stage at more or less face value. Something like: “It’s bright, it’s fun and there are lots of pretty people and a playlist of chart hits – job done!”
Now, while there’s nothing wrong with that sort of perspective, with escapism and entertainment being two of the most compelling reasons to go and sit yourself down in a theatre, refinement of the formula, shrewd writing decisions and a particularly good cast can make a production stand out – which is without a doubt the case with this year’s show, Beauty And The Beast.
For the past few years, Andrew Timm’s detailed digital projections have created the swirling, Day-Glo milieu in which all of the staged action has taken place, in the process creating a new language for the panto’s production design, sometimes filled with so many packed-in details that it’s difficult for the eye to follow them all. This year’s set, bracketed by two vividly coloured recesses (the Book Nook and the Danger Den) is – though still very much larger than life and intriguingly vibrant, with smoke wafting from village chimneys, clouds scudding across the sky and the like – relatively stripped down, giving each scene definition and life but not providing so much stimulation that the storyline gets lost in the middle. This gives Beauty And The Beast a refreshingly analogue feel that lets the performers – all encased in succession of gorgeous, opulent costumes that delight the eye and, in the case of Bongi Archi’s Mama’ama’bali, showing how remarkably rich costume designer Mariska Meyer’s imagination is – take centre stage, rather than fighting the set for attention. That’s not to say that the set is not brilliant: it regularly rivals the big-budget musicals for sheer spectacle.
This helps highlight the next strength of this piece, which is the casting of a number of top-tier singers in key roles. It’s good enough in something with a pantomime’s tone to have actors who can sing a bit doing their thing, but having performers who really know how to sing in a show packed with popular and often complex music elevates matters to another level. Bongi Archi (listen for his rich tenor coming through the ensemble’s full chorus), Virtuous Kandemiri (as Beauty), Daniel Anderson (as Boniface Bookworm), Kiruna-Lind Devar (as Mademoiselle Milly Fay), Stuart Brown (as Monsieur Brioche) and Lea Blerk (ensemble), among others, all have extensive experience as stars of shows in which extensive singing skill and stamina are baseline requirements, and in which all of them have excelled, and that expertise shines through, as do the musical nous of highly-rated musical director Daniel Butcher-Geddes as, appropriately, Maestro Melodio The Music Maker.
Further add to the a script with fewer of the brand sponsorship mentions that often shore up the significant budget of such a show, leaving more room for good, concrete storytelling and some wonderful belly laughs.
Cast standouts include Archi, in his debut as a dame; Judy Ditchfield as Hecate Hex, the Wicked Witch, with a maniacal laugh worthy of the most dastardly of villains; the rubber-faced Jackie Lulu as Hortensia Humph, one of Beauty’s haughty sisters; and the hilarious pairing of Devar and Brown as the sharp-witted duo responsible for the food in the Beast’s castle. They have a lovely chemistry, and the storyline allows for their characters to enjoy extensive interplay.
This is the best Johannesburg pantomime in years, delivering on all the expectations of a holiday favourite but also stepping up considerably in terms of what is on offer as a musical production and a showcase for its cast’s collective talent.
